FULL SPEECH: Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger lays out priorities in inaugural address

RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia's first female governor was sworn into office on Saturday.

Abigail Spanberger took her oath of office as the 75th governor of the Commonwealth on Jan. 17, marking a historic day for the state. 

Spanberger, a Democrat, campaigned on improving affordability for Virginians, protecting reproductive rights, lowering health care and housing costs and improving education.

She delivered her first State of the Commonwealth address to the General Assembly on Jan. 19, which she used to focus on affordability and bipartisan leadership. The governor additionally called for legislative action on health care, housing and energy reforms. 

The new governor also signed 10 executive orders on her first day in the state's top office covering a wide swath of policy issues. 

Who is Abigail Spanberger?

Her background:

Spanberger was born Aug. 7, 1979, making her 46 years old as of inauguration day.

Spanberger previously represented Virginia in the U.S. House and, according to her campaign biography, worked as a federal law enforcement officer with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and later served as a CIA case officer.

She's married to Adam Spanberger, a software engineer. The couple has three daughters: Claire, Charlotte and Catherine.

Spanberger's Inaugural Address

Full speech:

"Members, friends and our fellow Virginians, it is my honor to be with all of you today, at an inauguration ceremony like this one. 

With all its tradition and pageantry, it represents something profound and in its origin, something uniquely American: the peaceful transfer of power. 

It is a cornerstone of our American democratic experiment – a tradition and precedent begun by a Virginian, George Washington, and carried forth every time we celebrate an election and the inauguration of new leaders who will be entrusted to govern and serve for a time every four years, Virginians have the unique responsibility of choosing those leaders as we all write the next chapter of our Commonwealth story, and today, that tradition continues. 

Adam and I extend our appreciation to you, Governor Youngkin and First Lady, Suzanne Youngkin, For the time you have spent with us during this transition. I thank you for your service, and we wish you and your family the best as you exit this role and begin a new chapter. 

And to Lieutenant Governor Earle-Sears, herself a trailblazer, and Attorney General Miyares, and to those who served in the Youngkin administration, thank you for your service to the Commonwealth that we all love. 

To the former governors in attendance today, I am grateful that you are here. I thank you for your outreach, for your offers of support and your help, and for your continued commitment to Virginia. 

As I begin, as I begin my service as governor, I want to thank the men and women of our armed forces, the Virginians serving overseas and those who serve at military installations across our Commonwealth. Thank you for your defense of our freedom.

I thank the members of the Virginia National Guard, those serving far from home or right here today. I thank our Commonwealth law enforcement officers, firefighters and first responders for your tireless commitment to our fellow Virginians. Thank you. 

Seventy-five times. 75 times in Virginia's storied history, we have witnessed this transfer from one governor to the next 75 times a governor has taken this oath, and so many of those times it's been right here on these steps that those words have been spoken. 

It is the honor of my life to stand before you and take the oath today. The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me. I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who work generation after generation to ensure women could be among those casting ballots, but who could only but who could only dream of a day like today?

I stand before those who made it possible for a woman to also participate in that peaceful transfer of power and take that oath, and it is with a profound sense of duty to all Virginians that I assume the governorship and pledge myself to work tirelessly on behalf of our Commonwealth.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of two milestones in American democracy. The first is the signing of our Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, Virginia's second governor, and the man who designed the very building behind us today, and the second milestone we remember this year is the inauguration of Patrick Henry as Virginia's first governor. 

Governor Henry is best known for his call against tyranny at St John's Church just up the road, words that helped launch the American Revolution. But in his final public speech delivered in Virginia, years later, in 1799, he made an appeal to his fellow citizens, warning against the divisions that were threatening our young country. His appeal remains timeless. He said, ‘united, we stand divided, we fall. Let us not split into factions, which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.’ I'll say it again, ‘let us not split into factions which would destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.’

That was the challenge Governor Henry put to Virginia at the close of the 18th century, and it is the charge we must answer again today. 

I know that the work of perfecting our democracy has never been finished, but I am heartfelt and heartened by the fact that so much of that work has been done right here on these very steps and across this city where Virginia's history and America's history has so often been written. 

This square has been the scene of remarkable dramas of equality and justice. It's been the site of great struggles and hard-won triumphs whose consequences have been heard across America on these steps, Virginia's suffragists brought their cause to the General Assembly, session after session, decade after decade, and though these brave women were voted down time and time again, they refused to give up. 

And while the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920, it would not be until 1952 that Virginia finally ratified it. And yet, for so many women, the right to vote was not truly secured until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed a crowd of more than 2,500 people here in Richmond. He implored the then-governor to comply with the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, building upon a message he had issued one year prior when he wrote, 'today is a day for great men, great ideas, great movements.' And in his urgent appeal for progress, he wrote, "as Virginia goes, so goes the South.' 

In 1960, following his impassioned words at the pilgrimage of prayer, they marched here to these steps in the generation since Governor Henry's plea, as rights have been won and progress has been made, our commonwealth and our country have faced hurdles, hardships, division and bitterness, and yet along the way, what has been necessary is leaders who clearly see and willingly confront challenges. And even more importantly, what has always been essential is for people, everyday people, we Virginians, to do the same. 

And so it was in 1970 as our Commonwealth faced, once again, deep divisions that Virginia's 61st governor didn't shy away from the challenges before him. Governor Linwood Holton stared them down and on and on these steps, he proclaims, and I'm quoting, ‘no longer can we be divided into opposing camps of political philosophy. The time for partisan politics is over. It's time now for leadership, for action, for progress through unity.' 

And he went on to issue a challenge I turn today to all Virginians, whatever their political persuasion, and say, Let us act together.

And just 20 years later, on these steps, Virginia inaugurated our 66th governor and our nation's first elected African American governor.
Governor L. Douglas Wilder changed what so many of our fellow citizens believed was even possible, and today, on your 95th birthday,
I thank you, Governor for being here to celebrate this Virginia tradition as we continue to write our Commonwealth story.

It was by design that we are a Commonwealth. In Virginia's first constitution, written 250 years ago, they designated us as such, Virginia no longer a colony and not simply a state in our fledgling nation, but a Commonwealth. What's the difference? Well, kids pay attention. Someone may ask you this eventually: there's no difference. 

There is no difference in how we operate or function as a state. The difference lies in the intentions of our forefathers, and the choice to indicate that here our government should serve the common good that the voices of everyday Virginians — not kings, not aristocrats, not oligarchs — that the voices of everyday Virginians should drive us forward, and that our prosperity depends on that union, that our leaders and our fellow Virginians should join in common cause, find common ground and pursue common purpose. That is the concept at the heart of what it means to be a Commonwealth, and this is what it means to be united for Virginia's future. 

And while I have spoken at length about our history, today must be about our future and the story we will write together. 

And I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington. You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities, cutting health care access, imperiling rural hospitals and driving up costs. You are worried about Washington, policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service. 

You are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net and sowing fear across our communities, betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values that we celebrate here on these steps. 

And across the Commonwealth, everything keeps getting a bit more expensive, groceries, medicine, daycare, the electricity bill, rent and the mortgage. Families are strained. Kids are stressed, and so much just seems to be getting harder and harder. 

Growing up, my parents always taught me that when faced with something unacceptable, you must speak up. You must take action. You must write what you believe is wrong and fix what isn't working. And I know that some who are here today or watching from home may disagree with the litany of challenges and the hardships that I laid out. Your perspective may differ from mine. But that does not preclude us from working together where we may find common cause.

My priorities for the people of Virginia are drawn from my own background and experience. I grew up in a family where my parents modeled a commitment to service and community — my father in law enforcement and my mother in nursing. My middle class upbringing was a result of their struggle, their hard work and programs like the GI Bill that sent my dad to college and strong community colleges that allowed my mom to put herself through nursing school, as she worked a heck of a lot more than just full-time.

I followed my father's footsteps into law enforcement. At my academy graduation, he handed me my badge and my credentials and I entered a world where I had to get it right every time and do right by everyone. I encountered victims, witnesses, fellow agents and the person whose name was on an arrest warrant. 

Then, as a CIA officer, I work to combat the greatest threats facing America. I work to keep our nation safe at home and abroad, and I saw firsthand that the world is safer when the United States shows our mighty strength through the lives we save, the diseases we eradicate, the technologies we create and a leadership we show on a global stage.

Today, I am a mother to three daughters who are my everything, and there is nothing more important to me than their safety, their health, their education and their future, and I know that far too many parents work hard to make ends meet, but still worry how they'll put food on the table, take their sick child to the doctor or keep the lights on when Today is so uncertain, it is hard to dream big for tomorrow. 

Today, I stand before you on these steps, not only as Virginia's 75th governor, but as someone who believes it is our duty to write the next chapter of our Commonwealth story. It is our duty to demonstrate for the generations to come that when faced with hardship, challenges, divisions and even bitterness, we too, forged a path forward and pursued progress. 

As we write this next chapter, we will work relentlessly to make life more affordable for our fellow Virginians. We will tackle the high cost of housing, whether you're renting, buying or trying to stay in your home. We will cut red tape, increase housing supply and help communities keep housing affordable. We will work to lower energy costs by producing more energy and by ensuring that high energy users pay their fair share. And we will contend with an impending health care crisis by protecting health care access, cracking down on the middlemen who are driving up drug prices and making sure Virginians aren't going into spiraling medical debt because of a single emergency. 

As we write this next chapter, we will make Virginia's public schools the best in the nation, we will work to ensure every child in the Commonwealth receives a world-class education at every level, providing them a solid foundation in reading and math and preparing our kids for a prosperous future, and we will invest in the schools and the educators that are essential to this goal.

As we write this next chapter, we will grow Virginia's economy in every corner of the Commonwealth. We will invest in apprenticeships and job training of the future. We will bring capital investment to every region of our Commonwealth. We will stand up for Virginia's workers, including our federal workforce. We will, we will expand opportunities for Virginia agriculture, our farmers, producers, agribusinesses and farm families. 

And as we write this next chapter, we will focus on the security and safety of all our neighbors. We will take action. Take action to prevent gun violence, to support Virginians struggling with addiction, and to address the mental health crisis impacting our kids and our neighbors and in Virginia, our hard-working, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say that we will focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them too. 

Then we will write this next chapter together, because throughout our history, no leader has ever made progress alone. 

To my friends in the General Assembly on both sides of the aisle, I look forward to working with you. I know what it means to represent your constituents, to work hard for your district and to pursue policies you believe in. We will not agree on everything, but I speak from personal experience when I say we do not have to see eye to eye on every issue, to stand shoulder to shoulder on others, because Virginia has always been a place where we confront challenges, where we build coalitions and where we prove that democracy still works. 

To Lieutenant Governor Hashmi and Attorney General Jones, I look forward to working together with both of you as we serve our fellow Virginians over the next four years to our incoming Cabinet and administration. Thank you for joining us in service to the people of Virginia, and most importantly, to the people of Virginia, we are beginning a new chapter in our Commonwealth story, and we need you to help us write it as we mark 250 years since the dawn of American freedom. 

What will our children, our grandchildren and their descendants write about this time in our Commonwealth's history, this chapter 50, 100 250 years from now? Will they say that we let divisions fester or challenges overwhelm us, or will they say that we stood up for what is right, fixed what is broken and served the common good? 

Here in Virginia today, we're hearing the call to connect more deeply to our American experiment, to understand our shared history, not as a single point in time, but as a lesson for how we create our our more prosperous future. 

And so I ask, what will you do to help us author this next chapter as your governor? 

I pledge to you that I will work tirelessly for you and for our Commonwealth. And today, I find myself thinking about Dr. King's pilgrimage of prayer — such a powerful phrase — and it gives me cause to reflect on what our path forward must be, not a pilgrimage of politics, certainly not a pilgrimage of partisanship, but rather a pilgrimage of promise, progress and prosperity. 

My fellow Virginians, as we set an example for the country and the world and most importantly, for our children, let us choose to stand united. Choose to serve one another, choose to act together as we continue forward, let us be united for Virginia's future. 

Thank you all so very much. May God bless the Commonwealth of Virginia and may God bless the United States of America.